A Lufthansa subsidiary, Eurowings, said today it was making redundant half its staff and disposing of half of its inventory of airplanes, according to dpa. The contraction is part of a cost-cutting restructuring at Lufthansa, Germany's main airline, aimed at scrapping smaller planes. Eurowings, which operates domestic feeder flights to Frankfurt and Munich and also links some non-German cities to smaller German airports, is to shed about 600 of its 1,260 staff and dispose of 19 of its 34 aircraft, the company said from its Dortmund head office. Lufthansa has decided it no longer pays to operate aircraft seating 50 passengers or fewer. From March 28, Eurowings is to give up its 17 Bombardier CRJ 200 propellor planes and 2 CRJ 700 jets. Lufthansa owns 49 per cent of regional airline Eurowings but has full management control. Eurowings did not immediately say what routes it would give up. It aims to slim down its fleet to just 15 aircraft of the CRJ 900 type, which each seat 90. The surplus planes are to be sold or returned to leasing companies. Lufthansa disclosed some time ago it would no longer operate smaller planes, but has sped up the change because of the recession.
